


Goodbye, Mr. Accomplice

by SkylaDoragono



Series: Mr. Accomplice Trilogy [3]
Category: Persona 4
Genre: Emotional Manipulation, Gen, Manipulation, Mind Games, Murder
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-12-14
Updated: 2014-12-14
Packaged: 2018-03-01 12:30:29
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,968
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2773076
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SkylaDoragono/pseuds/SkylaDoragono
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Final part of the Mr. Accomplice Trilogy; sometimes it's hard to tell who the monster staring back at you really is.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Goodbye, Mr. Accomplice

MAY 2 – AFTERNOON

_"I don't want you staying alone in the house."_

The call from his uncle had not been enough to surprise Yu Narukami that afternoon, considering everything that had been going on. It was all _his_ idea, of course; it was enough that his actions had put a light of doubt onto Namatame, but it would not take long for those that had been directly involved with the events of last year to figure out what was going on now. It would not take long for the real murderer to be exposed, and that was why they were doing what they were doing.

That was why they were silencing them all.

"Where should I go?" he asked softly, not even bothering to protest.

_"Adachi has volunteered to keep an eye on you and the Hanamura kid,"_ his uncle replied. _"We're still trying to find your other friends. It's hard to explain why though…"_

There was a slight accusatory tone in Dojima's voice, and what little part of Yu that could still feel anything flinched slightly at that. He did feel bad, dragging his uncle into a situation he could not hope to win, and could never fully understand. After everything that happened with his wife and Nanako, he deserved to live a relaxing life in a peaceful town, but that just was not going to happen anymore. Even when the murders ended, the fog would never leave Inaba…

…and there were also the rumors of people disappearing, as if the shadows themselves swallowed them whole.

"All right, I'll head over to the station," he replied, just as a knocked came on the door. He went over to answer as his uncle replied, mildly surprised to see Adachi standing on the other side, not that it reached his face.

_"Adachi should be heading over to pick you up. I don't want you going anywhere alone,"_ his uncle said, before letting out a sigh. _"I would send you home right now, but the train isn't going to pick up until the weekend."_

"It's fine, uncle," he assured him. "And Adachi-san is here now. I'll see you later."

He waited for his uncle to say goodbye, before he hung up the phone. If he knew how this was going to go, and he had a feeling he did, it was probably going to be the last time he spoke with him.

Adachi stood patiently in the doorway, his expression surprisingly grim, and Yu was half tempted to ask him if he was bored already, but he managed to keep it back. There was no point in trying to bait him when he was probably already high from everything they had done, and they still were not done yet. There was the last one left, his best friend and his partner, the one _he_ had decided to leave for last out of poetic irony. In addition, some of the others had yet to reappear in the real world; Yukiko and Rise had died fairly quickly, but Kanji and Chie were still lost somewhere in the TV, still fighting for their lives.

Any other time, he might have smiled at that.

"You ready for this?" Adachi asked, and he could not help but raise an eyebrow at that. The detective almost sounded _concerned,_ when he should have sounded some twisted kind of proud. He seemed to realize this, because he continued quickly, "Hey, I don't want you chickening out at the last minute, you know. This is your 'partner' we're ending with here."

Yu was silent, glancing away from him. Adachi waited, looking like he expected him to change his mind, because these were his friends, because these were the people that trusted him and cared about him.

"…I said I wouldn't run away."

Adachi let out an awkward noise, narrowing his eyes at him. Before he could comment, Yu pressed on:

"There is one stop I want to make first."

Silence hung between the two of them again, before the detective finally let out a sigh.

"…yeah, I had a feeling you would."

~.oOOo.~ 

The steady beep of vital monitoring machinery was the only sound piercing through the silence of the ICU ward, a sound Yu was used to by now. He had made his visit to Nanako's bedside more than once since he had returned, and she had yet to wake up again. Yu knew he did not deserve to see her awake again, to see her smile and hear her voice. Still, he held her hand, silently watching her laying out on the bed, machines breathing for her, machines watching over her.

Was it too much to ask her to forgive him? Probably; he did not deserve her forgiveness, or anyone's for that matter. He had made a choice, and chose a truth that ultimately destroyed everything he knew and loved; he had to suffer the consequences, no matter what they were. That did not mean he was not going to hold onto her hand one last time, pet her hair one last time, not even sure if she could feel what he was doing, but he did it anyway.

Adachi stood just inside the doorway, watching the two of them, not daring to break the silence until Yu finally straightened, pulling away from Nanako's bed.

"Think she'll survive what's coming?" he asked idly, sounding like he did not really care, though Yu already knew otherwise.

"…maybe," he replied. "I don't think the Shadows would respond to her. Not like this."

Adachi let out a faint, curious noise, but Yu did not explain himself. He stood finally, heading out of the ICU, and not paying much attention to the other man. The detective glanced after him as the doors slid closed behind him, before turning his attention back to Nanako.

By the time he left as well, she was tucked securely into the bed, as if the tightly drawn blanket would protect her from the darkness that was to come.

~.oOOo.~ 

Yosuke looked like a massive bundle of nerves when they finally picked him up.

He sat in the back of Adachi's vehicle with Yu, keeping up all the appearances of nothing being out of the ordinary. Of course, nothing could hide the fact they were being put under police protection because their murderer was going around killing those that knew about the TV. Sitting by his best friend and partner seemed to ease his nerves somewhat, though he was still extremely tense; understandable, since everyone else was either confirmed dead or still missing. Yu even wanted to reach over and assure him everything would be fine, but… that was one lie he could not manage to make.

Besides, Adachi was doing plenty of lying for them both, trying to keep a bright and cheerful outlook, despite the fact that it was obvious what was going on.

"H-hey, you know, Dojima-san is just worried about the two of you!" he said brightly when neither of them had responded to him. "I'm sure everything will just blow over after a few days, and everything will be back to normal."

Yu had to fight to keep himself from shaking his head; he had to wonder how he could fake sincerity that well. If he did not know better, he probably would have been fooled. As it was, Yosuke seemed to ease back a little in his seat, believing it, despite the fact that he knew some of his friends would never be able to "be back to normal".

He finally glanced at Yu then, forcing a smile on his face. "Well… at least we're back together again, right, partner?"

The smile came easily in return, mostly because he already knew how this was going to end.

"Yeah; together again."

It was another hour before they were settled in the police station, a cup of hot chocolate for each of them and some magazines they could read if they wanted to. Adachi was being his usual, upbeat self, trying to assure them that everything was fine as he took them back to one of the interrogation rooms; it was not the best place to be in the precinct, but it did have a bed they could rest on and a television to watch cable on if they wanted to.

…and a broken security camera.

"Here, you guys," Adachi said as they entered the room. "I'll be just outside, so give a knock if you need me, okay?"

Yu gave a nod as Yosuke stared at the TV uncomfortably. Of course, he was going to be the one to deal with his best friend; _he_ thought it was for the best, after all they had been through together. He clenched his hands at his sides, giving Adachi one more, minute nod before he closed the door, silently reaffirming his promise that he was not going to run away.

Yosuke jumped as the door clicked closed, staring at it with wide eyes, before turning back to Yu. He tilted his head at his best friend, giving him a curious look that drew a forced laugh out of him.

"Ah… I guess I'm just a little jumpy after everything that's been going on…" he explained, falling into one of the seats. "But… well, I'm glad if I have to get stuck like this, I'm with you."

Yu smiled faintly, a tired look coming to his eyes. "Yeah… I'm glad I'm with you too."

Yosuke's smile looked a little less forced at that, and he took a sip of his hot chocolate, his hand shaking the whole time. It was obvious he had a lot on his mind, that there were so many things he needed to ask Yu about, but he did not know where to start… or if he wanted to start.

Yu finally sat down after a moment, making him jump again, Yosuke briefly staring at him with wide eyes, before he laughed nervously. He looked down at his magazine, forcing himself to open it and at least look like he was reading a page, but Yu could easily tell he was not, considering he was staring at the same line for over a minute.

"So…" Yosuke began, "did you… hear from any of the others before they… you know."

Yu stared at him, a twinge of sadness coming to his face, before he glanced down at his own magazine.

"No… we haven't spoke to each other for some time."

He knew he was made; he could hear Yosuke's hands curl around the edges of the magazine, and his breath started coming up short. Yu continued to look at his magazine, actually finding the article he opened up to fairly interesting. It was a moment before he could hear Yosuke's grip loosen, and his best friend let out a faint breath.

"…you wouldn't lie to me, right partner?" he asked.

"Of course not."

"Then why did you just now?"

Yu did not even bother to look up from his magazine, and Yosuke took his silence as answer enough. He shot up from his seat, pounding his fists against the table.

_"Why!?"_ he demanded. "Was it you all the time!? Did you start all of this!?"

Yu still did not answer, reaching over and taking a sip from his hot chocolate. Yosuke just stared at him in disbelief, like he half expected him to do _something_ other than just sit there like nothing was wrong. He paused, glancing between Yu, the TV, and the door, before finally going for the door, thinking that Adachi outside would be able to help him. Yu almost sighed at that, closing the magazine as his best friend flung the door open, only to find Adachi standing just in the doorway, a bored look on his face. Yosuke backpedaled then, almost knocking right into the table they had been seated at as the detective entered the room, closing the door behind him so he could lean against it.

"Man, you're taking your sweet time," he complained. "I thought you said you would handle this?"

Yu stood up then as Yosuke looked between the two of them in disbelief, trying frantically to make sense of the situation and failing miserably. Confusion, rage, hurt; it was a little painful for Yu to see it all on his face, especially with the detective just standing there, waiting for him to get the inevitable over with.

He let out a faint sigh, and Yosuke seemed to snap out of it then. He focused all his anger and his rage on Yu first, barreling his fist toward him. Yu had been tempted just to let him get one hit in, just a small payment for going along with _his_ plan. With how mad Yosuke was, a hit from him was probably going to knock him out, so he just stepped aside instead, letting his friend's forward momentum send him off balance. His leg came up as his best friend went flying past him, kneeing him in the gut and making him double over into the perfect position for Yu to grab him by the scruff of his neck.

Adachi just watched, his arms folded over his chest, as Yu dragged his once best friend and partner over to the television set. Yosuke seemed to get his wind back just as he got close enough, struggling with every ounce of strength he had. Yu grimaced as he fought to keep a hold on him, grabbing him by the shoulder and ramming his head against the frame of the TV _hard._ Yosuke let out a weak sounding squawk as the television wobbled precariously, all but falling limp in Yu's hands. He turned a dazed look up toward him, eyes silently begging for _some_ kind of explanation, but the only answer he got was an impassive stare before he was shoved face first into the TV.

Yu just stood there for a long moment after Yosuke's feet disappeared, breathing hard and shaking with emotion. Adachi continued to watch him from the door, the same bored expression on his face… before he let out a low chuckle that quickly turned into an almost _insane_ cackle.

"You did it," he said, in complete disbelief despite his laughing. "You actually went through with getting rid of _all of them."_

Yu said nothing, continuing to stand there and shake as the murdering detective laughed. It took a moment for Adachi to stop, and something like pity crossed his face before he let out a tired sounding sigh, pushing himself off the door. As soon as he got close enough to Yu, the teen practically collapsed on top of him, one hand coming around to cling to his back.

"…hey, I told you," Adachi pointed out, managing not to roll his eyes at how he was behaving. "You're too kind for this sort of thing."

"Maybe…"

Adachi let out a curious noise at that response, raising an eyebrow. After all, he had gone along with the entire plan _he_ had come up with… but he was never told the last part of his plan.

He only found out about it in the next second, when Yu slammed his fist into his gut.

The detective doubled over in pain as Yu pulled away, only to grab him by his hair. Cold grey eyes glared down at him as Adachi sucked in air, his brain trying to get back up and working enough so he could figure out what was going on. It did not take him much, especially when he felt the back of his head pushed toward the TV. He stared up at the kid for a long moment, light from the screen swirling around his head…

…and the only thing he could do was laugh.

"You think no one's going to notice, Yu-kun?" he sneered at him. "You really think no one's going to wonder why a detective suddenly disappeared with two kids in his custody?"

"It doesn't matter," Yu said, his voice unnervingly steady, despite the fact that he looked like he had been on the verge of collapse before. "With the fog and the Shadows, the world as we know it will disappear soon. Whether I face any consequences from this doesn't matter anymore."

Adachi stared at him, the realization that nothing he said was going to matter now coming to him. The look on his face was enough to bring a smile Yu's; one of his soft, gentle smiles that he saved for his friends. Given the situation and the light cast off of the TV, however, the expression looked like something otherworldly, almost demonic.

"Don't worry, Adachi-san," he said, his tone encouraging. "You have the same power as I do. I'm sure you'll get to live long enough to see the new world."

In that moment, Yu got to see something he did not think he would ever get to see. Adachi's eyes near bugged out of his head, a look of _utter panic_ on his face as realization struck him. It was clear to him then that taking advantage of Yu's almost desperate need to save him had backfired. That talking him into burning the evidence of his crime had done more than just made Yu a criminal like him. It had made him _snap;_ it made all the good he had done and all the bonds he had forged with others completely useless. Adachi had made a sweet, innocent kid into a murderer, worse than he was, and he had just encouraged him to be even more terrible over and over again.

Yu almost sighed at the sight, holding him there just so he could enjoy it for as long as possible, before his shoved his arm and Adachi's head forward.

"Goodbye, Mr. Accomplice."


End file.
